Analyst Questions X-box Business Model

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Cooky

Microsoft’s recent Xbox One digital rights management announcements resulted in a significant backlash from the gaming community, and it seems at least one analyst firm now thinks the DRM strategy also puts the entire Xbox division at risk.

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Microsoft offers more information on it’s NSA involvement

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Cooky

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that it had no direct involvement in a recently uncovered National Security Agency program called PRISM, which monitors and analyses Internet data. At the time, Microsoft said it only revealed information it has gathered from law enforcement and government agencies “when we receive a legally binding order or subpoena to do so, and never on a voluntary basis.”

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E3: “X-box One” actually ran on Gaming PCs

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Cooky

The Xbox One games that were showcased at E3 2013 this week didn’t run on early versions of the console or at least on developer kits. A couple of photos have popped up showing that the games were running on PCs that were powered by Windows 7 and used Nvidia graphics cards.

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Rumor: Microsoft Paying $100,000 to some Windows Phone App Makers?

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Cooky

Microsoft is still trying to get some major apps to be ported over to its Windows Phone 8 operating system. This week, two separate rumors claim the company may be paying a lot of money to get more apps for Windows Phone smartphone users

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Has X-box One Alienated the (US) Military?

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Cooky

Microsoft has stated that the Xbox One console needs to be connected to the Internet at least once every 24 hours for gaming. This decision has been highly controversial, but now one person says that Microsoft’s move could make a large section of gamers very unhappy.

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Nintendo speaks out against Microsoft DRM

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Cooky

Since finally announcing its digital rights management requirements of its upcoming Xbox One console, Microsoft’s faced a bevy of criticism from both gamers and gaming companies. Shigeru Miyamoto, an executive at Nintendo best known for creating Mario, has now thrown Nintendo’s hat into the ring, saying the Japanese company doesn’t believe in restrictive DRM.

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EA deny asking Microsoft for X-box One DRM

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Cooky

Electronic Arts recently abandoned its online pass requirement for multiplayer gaming on current-generation consoles, leading some to speculate that the company asked Microsoft for Xbox One’s digital rights management technology. According to an EA executive, however, that isn’t the case.

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E3: Meet PS4, Console, DRM & Pricing

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Cooky

At Sony’s E3 2013 press conference, the company has finally unveiled the hardware for the PlayStation 4, after not revealing the design at the original launch event for the PlayStation 4 in February. This is what the console will look like when it hits stores later this year:

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E3: Most Anticipated Games Round-up

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Cooky

For gamers, it remains the single biggest week of the year. Starting on Tuesday, tens of thousands of people will converge on Los Angeles to attend the 2013 edition of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3. Major press conferences from Microsoft, Sony, EA and Ubisoft will be held on Monday, one after the other.

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Official X-box One Used Game Rules to Cause Mountains of Problems

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Cooky

Microsoft has finally offered up some concrete details about how used game discs for their upcoming Xbox One console will be handled. Publishers believe that used game sales hurt their bottom line because they don’t get any more money from sales of those games after they are originally bought as new releases.

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NSA and PRISM make SOPA look harmless

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Cooky

GHCQ the UK’s intelligence gathering agency has been discovered in a document leaked to the Guardian Newspaper to be secretly gathering information from large US based technology companies Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook Google and Skype.

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Diablo III coming to X-box 360 & PS3

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Cooky

Earlier this year, Blizzard announced that its popular PC role-playing game “Diablo III” would make its way to the PlayStation 3, though the company remained cagey on whether it would also be released for Microsoft’s console. Today it confirmed “Diablo III” will be coming to both the PS3 and Xbox 360 on Sept. 3.

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Forget HD, new Ultrabook with Resolution Of 3200×1800!

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Cooky

One of the biggest issues some people have had with new Windows 8 notebooks is that their displays tend to have resolutions that are not as high as Apple’s Macbook line with their Retina display. Now it looks like at least some PC makers are trying to offer notebooks with higher resolution displays.

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Halo ‘Spartan Assault’ coming to Windows 8 / Windows Phone 8

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Cooky

Microsoft and 343 Industries have announced a new Halo game set to debut on Windows tablets and smartphones, “Halo: Spartan Assault.” In what is said to be an exclusive title for Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone 8, it could finally see Microsoft begin to properly leverage its Xbox gaming credentials.

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HD Skype for Windows 8

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Cooky

A month ago, the Skype app for Windows 8 was updated with new support for video messaging. Today, Microsoft issued yet another update for the Windows 8 Skype app that also involves new video features.

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BMW helps Create A Cool PC

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Cooky

Designs for PCs have gotten more and more creative over the years as companies move away from the dull looking black or white desktop tower case. This week, it was announced that a subsidiary of the BMW Group has created a rather interesting new design for a gaming PC that will be shown next week at the Computex trade show in Taiwan.

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Microsoft: First Official Reveal of Windows 8.1

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Cooky

The last few months have been filled with discussion, criticism and – yes, believe it or not – even praise for Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows 8. Not everyone is happy with the direction that Microsoft has taken with the platform, but it seems that everyone has an opinion on it.

Perhaps the biggest single criticism – although arguably the least significant, in the grand scheme of things – has been the absence of the Start button, but beyond that, there remain many issues with the OS that users have found less than appealing.

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Apple CEO Drops Hints about iWatch

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Cooky

Rumours surrounding Apple’s unannounced iWatch have been flying thick and fast in recent months. With the advent of Google Glass as well, the focus of wearable computing has moved away from the Californian tech giant.

Speaking at the D11 conference hosted by AllThingsD, however, Apple boss Tim Cook has reignited rumours surrounding the company’s pursuit into wearable tech. Cook referred to the product category as “incredibly interesting”, praising the Nike Fuelband specifically.

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QWERkeys teases us with New Mechanical Keyboard

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Cooky

Mechanical keyboards have something of a community behind them. It’s not an especially large community, and it isn’t that vocal either. Even so, several companies that cater to this niche market exist.

Here in the U.K., we have QWERkeys, and based on an email sent out to prior customers, there is a possibility of the company bringing their own board to market. Emphasis on the could, as you’ll see.

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X-box one to add achievements for watching TV & Ads?

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Cooky

Microsoft introduced Xbox Live Achievements into gaming with the launch of the Xbox 360 in 2005. The simple but addictive system of collecting points in games and then adding them to a player’s total Gamerscore was a pretty brilliant idea for its time. Now Microsoft might be trying add a similar achievement system just for watching TV programs.

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